Friday, April 20, 2007

This week’s blog post on music will feature several songs with geographic locations in the title.We start with a song from Kristin Hersh, who is best known for her time as lead singer of alt rock group Throwing Muses.As NPR notes, her solo career dipped into different styles of music though her most recent incarnation is as the head of punk rock group 50 Foot Wave.“Costa Rica” comes from her 1999 album Sky Motel which CNN said was “the first time she felt that she had control over her songs, rather than the other way around”.

Los Fabulosos Cadillacs are an Argentine group who is one of the biggest names in rock en español.Their heyday was in the early- to mid-1990s though the group continues to perform today.Their lead singer- Vicentico- recently released a critically acclaimed solo record. Anyway, “Arde Buenos Aires” comes from 1991 and it’s a delightful, toe-tapping blend of ska and salsa.

The Lilysare a much underrated indie rock band based in Washington, DC who- much like most of the above-mentioned musicians- are very eclectic and varied in their musical styles.“The Night Sun Over San Juan” comes from their 2006 album Everything Wrong Is Imaginary and the song was accurately described as having “a charming sloppiness to the execution” by floodwatchmusic.com.

Lastly on our geographical jaunt through music is “La Joya Del Pacifico” by Chilean singer/songwriter Joe Vasconcellos.He is a musician that is not very well known outside of South America, though he is one of his country’s most popular performers.World Music Central describes Joe Vasconcellos as embodying “the essence of what is today's ‘world music’” and this song is his ode to the tropical beauty that is Valparaiso “de mi amor.”Thus, a fitting end to this list.

Meanwhile, hundreds of activists clamoring for land reform invaded the National Agrarian Reform Institute building while others took over farms in several Brazilian provinces.According to a statement from the Landless Rural Workers' Movement:

“The movement demands the federal government meet its obligation to settle 150,000 families living under plastic sheets throughout the country in the name of the struggle for agrarian reform.”

A report released yesterday by the American Cancer Society points out that ethnic minorities in New York City have a higher risk of contracting cancer and dying from it than other New Yorkers.For instance, Hispanic women have a greater chance of getting cervical cancer than other ethnic groups.

Worse still are the numerous barriers which impede minorities from getting preventative treatment:

“Language barriers, cultural apprehensions about seeking medical care, and a fear among immigrants that their citizenship status may be called into question if they go the hospital”.

The American Cancer Society has a Spanish-language website which may be accessed here and the NationalCancerInformationCenter has a hotline on cancer information (1-800-ACS-2345).

Colombian president Alvaro Uribe claimed that he was snubbed by ex-U.S. Vice President Al Gore from appearing at an environmental conference in Miami.According to Uribe (image), Gore’s office withdrew from a panel they were supposed to appear on due to mounting accusations over Uribe’s ties with right-wing paramilitary groups.So far, Gore’s press reps have yet to respond to Uribe.

In the meantime, Uribe has not directly replied to accusations made a few days ago by opposition Senator Gustavo Petro.In a speech during a session of Congress, Petro claimed that senior paramilitary leaders worked closely with members of the Uribe’s family and blamed Uribe for mishandling a legal vigilante program when he was governor of Antioquia province.

U.S. presidential hopeful Bill Richardson has called for the resignation of embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. "New leadership is needed.It's time for him to go'' declared Richardson after Gonzales was "couching his explanations'' during a Senate hearing yesterday.(Both gentlemen are of Mexican background).

“Critics have claimed the dismissals were either motivated by desire to install attorneys more loyal to the Republican Party…or as retribution for actions or inactions damaging to the Republican Party”.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Experts continue to analyze the Latin American economy, always a topic for discussion.

The 13th European Union-Rio Group met April 18 in the Dominican Republican. According to the Inter Press Service News Agency, the foreign ministers of Latin America and European Union discussed the extreme poverty crises in neighboring Haiti (photo). Read much more here.

The World Economic Forum reported April 18 that Latin America’s economies are less vulnerable to the shifting patterns of other countries, but that social and economic inequalities in the region still are present and a problem.

Latin America is the “most unequal region in the world,” according to information in the 16-page report reported in the The World Bank.

The WEF report says 25 percent of the population lives on less than $2 per day, in spite of economic growth in the last few years.

Strengthening commodity exports could be affected by downturns in the Chinese economy or rising United States protectionism, according to The World Bank article.

The organizers of the Davos meetings also warned about anti-globalization sentiments across the region, according to the article. The forum will be holding a two-day conference on Latin America in Santiago, Chile, beginning April 25., according to the United Press International.

The WEF stressed that the mood in Latin America is upbeat.

Links: United Press International, The World Bank, Inter Press Service News Agency

Whale hunting is officially condemned by all Latin American nations with Nicaragua’s announcement last week that it is in favor of whale protection and conservation.

According to the Santiago Times, protests from Argentina to Australia and Spain preceded the announcement last week, including protestors outside the Nicaraguan Embassy in Chile with gravestones shaped like whale fins reading “R.I.P.” President Daniel Ortega’s administration now publicly supports the Buenos Aires Declaration that condemns whale killing.

The International Whaling Commission will vote within the month on whether to continue a moratorium on commercial whale hunting.

Some governments allow “scientific whaling,” although many of the whales caught still end up on plates, the article reported.

-Contributed by Alison BowenLatin America’s economy could begin to decline in 2007, according to an article in the Miami Herald.

According to reports from the International Monetary Fund, the Latin American and Caribbean economies will grow by 4.9 percent this year, compared to 5.5 percent last year. The decline continues into 2008 with 4.2 percent growth.

The dismal forecast follows the region’s best financial three-year period since the 1970s, according to the IMF.

Growth in some countries, including Venezuela and Argentina, may continue, but at a less impressive pace. Economic progress in Chile and Brazil will actually increase.

Partially blamed for the slowed economy is the United State’s economic slowdown, which affects the world economy. Prices of oils and metals, an integral part of Latin American economies, also are expected to drop.

U.S. photographer Spencer Tunick is well-known for taking photos of hundreds of naked bodies in different locations around the world such as Buenos Aires, Dusseldorf, and Caracas. His next project is planned at the pyramids of Teotihuacan located outside of Mexico City, yet Mexican officials may not give him permission to work there:

“’The application has been filed and the National Anthropology and History Institute is evaluating it, but it looks like they won't let him. It's not the last word but they have told me it will be rejected,’ Alejandro Sarabia, who runs the Teotihuacan site, told Reuters on Monday”.

While visiting Mexico City yesterday, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana criticized plans to erect additional fencing along the border between the U.S. and Mexico.Said Solana (image):

“A wall that separates one country from another is not something that I like or that the European Union members like.The EU believes immigrants should be treated like people, not like criminals.”

Solana also expressed his deepest sympathies with the victims of Monday’s shootings at VirginiaTechUniversity.He is accompanied by several other E.U. officials during a tour this week of five Latin American countries.

Solana’s comments come in light of an ABC News/Washington Post poll that shows how most Americans do not approve of the way President George W. Bush and Congress are handling the issue of immigration.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Brazilian actress and humorist Nair Bello died earlier today as she was convalescing in hospital after suffering three straight cardiac arrests last November.Bello’s work spanned nearly six decades from radio to telenovelas where she may have been best known as the character of “Pierina” in “Uga Uga.”Her funeral is scheduled for this Thursday near Sao Paolo. Below is a YouTube clip of Bello appearing on a Brazilian talk show with Lolita Rodrigues and Hebe Camargo:

Widespread anger forced Mexican beauty pageant officials to abandon plans to have Miss Mexicowear a dress with bullet belts and images of hangings(image) during the Miss Universe pageant.Though the debate over abortion has split Mexico, members on both sides of the political spectrum repudiated the dress as not only a glorification of violence but also that it was meant as a tribute to the Cristero War of the 1920s. The three-year conflict arose between catholic and anti-catholic factions and cost approximately 90,000 lives.

"It would be like Miss USA wearing a dress showing images of the Ku Klux Klan in the Deep South, with their hoods, their burning crosses and beer cans.A beauty contest is very far from being the right place to vent political and religious ideologies."

Could you imagine having Miss Colombia dress up as a drug mule or Miss Puerto Rico have a costume of a massacred Taino "indian"? Though the notion of a cristero dress is silly, at least pageant officials came to their senses before it was displayed on the world stage.

Miami Herald columnist Andres Oppenheimer is surprised to note that tourism in Latin America and the Caribbean is weak compared to the rest of the world.He cites the World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2007 which ranks countries like Costa Rica, Mexico, and Brazil in 41st, 49th, and 59th places respectively and wonders how Latin American states can be outranked by countries like Malta and Estonia.Oppenheimer estimates that the tourism sector is largely ignored by Latin American governments even though tourism can be a great resource for the region:

“While Latin American and Caribbean countries are attracting growing numbers of foreign tourists -- not just because of their natural beauties, but because they can also offer some of the world's best music, food and soccer -- the region could get a much bigger share of world tourism.

When it comes to tourism, Latin America is sitting on a gold mine, and could do much better”.

Forty-six years ago today was the start of the infamous Bay of Pigs invasion where U.S.-trained Cuban exiles failed to overthrow the government led by Fidel Castro. According to Wikipedia, the invasion lasted four days and over one hundred members of the invading force were killed compared to between 1600 and 5000 Cuban soldiers.

Several bloggers, especially those ofCubanbackground, have posted their thoughts on the events of April 1961.Several events in Cuba are being held to commemorate the anniversary as a time when “men and women defended the justice, the truth and the ideas of new system in the Americas in the Bay of Pigs.”However, the dissidence movement in Cuba itself is not taking things quietly; several key members have called for unity within the movement and may create a “unitary bloc.”

“The Democratic proposal has elements that are welcome and attractive, including a commitment to boost trade and increase aid to poor nations. One can only hope that such aid represents at least a significant fraction of the estimated $20 billion that Democrats want to spend annually to create a safety net for U.S. workers hurt by globalization.

Yet it is not very clear that the Democrats are committed to the fundamental aspect of trade that benefits poorer nations -- free and fair access to the U.S. market. The Democratic proposal also lacks any mention of ending protections for U.S. producers, particularly the multibillion-dollar agricultural subsidies that have historically obtained congressional passage with broad Democratic support”.

Nonetheless, Sanchez concludes her article by applauding the Democrats’ effort “that finds a broad middle ground and does not need to appeal to the extremes”.

Will Congress leverage its influence on the Bush administration to change free trade agreements or is it really just empty rhetoric?Should U.S. free trade deals be changed or are they fine as is?Will the Americascontinueto bedivided over whether to support or reject free trade?

What do you think?

Links- The Latin Americanist, Washington Post, House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee

Now border volleyball made its triumphant return several days ago when residents of Naco, Arizona and Naco, Mexico played as part of a goodwill festival between both towns.The fence along the border between both towns served as the net for the games which were enjoyed with the intermittent presence of the Border Patrol.

Jose Lorenzo Villegas- the mayor of Naco, Mexico- made a very astute observation which highlights the camaraderie between both “teams”:

"What's unusual is that both the Mexican and U.S. teams are playing at home, with the fence as the net."

The area around Naco is infamous for being a popular area of crossing across the border as well as the location where a Border Patrol agent killed a migrant in March.

A group of New York City public high school students and their teacher were detained by U.S. customs officials after taking a trip to Cuba during spring break.Though the BeaconSchool had planned a trip to Cuba since last year, the U.S government forbids granting high schools educational licenses for travel abroad.Each student risks being fined $65,000 (!) for going to Cuba if U.S. government officials deemed their trip as “illegal.”